For the past 2 years i have been searching the various venues to find out if there were any real alternatives to the Mighty eBay. It has been a well known fact ( that's the rumor that's been spread around by ?? you guess it ebay themselves ) that ebay is untouchable. They are so well imbedded into the internet and our minds that they have become a monument synonomus with the word Auction.
Well that might have been true a year or so ago but, much to my surprise and even more to the surpise of the ebay higher anarcy they are not so well imbedded and untouchable. And Now !
Hey eBay, Say Hello to Bonanzle
Rankled by eBay, small online sellers are hanging out their shingles at new marketplace sites like Bonanzle
The first Saturday morning of each month, licensed auctioneer Walt Kolenda holds live auctions on the Web. Buyers usually show up early to inspect the goods and ask "Auction Wally" questions through a live chat window. From the comfort of his home in Barre, Mass., Kolenda calls the action over a real-time podcast, taking bidders, offering bundle deals, and calling attention to the rarity of a set of antique postcards or the craftsmanship of a piece of ornate glassware.
Like many thrift stores and estate sellers, Kolenda has benefited from strapped consumers, many of whom have cleaned out their attics in search of valuables that might help pay the bills. "I can't keep up with what I'm doing because so many people are coming to me looking for advice on how to sell their items," Kolenda says.
The first advice he gives most sellers: Leave eBay (EBAY). Since 1999, Kolenda relied on the popular site that pioneered online auctions. But he says changes eBay made to its platform in recent years have hampered the ability of smaller sellers like him to compete with larger wholesalers who use the site as a clearinghouse to sell large amounts of goods at fixed prices. "Now, they want to be a big box [store]," Kolenda says. The changes that turned him away include higher fees for listing each item, the removal of a feature that allowed sellers to negatively rate buyers, and the elimination of all transaction methods other than PayPal, a payment service eBay owns.
Built-In Chat Feature
In September, Kolenda set up shop at Bonanzle, one of several niche online marketplaces that have sprung up to serve the growing number of online merchants who are leaving eBay out of frustration. Bonanzle was launched in June 2008 by Seattle computer programmer Bill Harding, who wanted to re-create the social dealmaking experience of a garage sale online. Anyone can sign up for a free Bonanzle "booth," a page where a seller displays items and interacts with visitors using a built-in chat feature. Sellers can easily reward good customers with markdowns, or hold regular "bonanzas"—events where all of their products are on sale.
Relying just on word-of-mouth buzz, the site has attracted some 35,000 registered users, a number Harding says has grown about 50% each month. Bonanzle collects small fees from each item that's sold—the company takes $1 for items that sell at an average price of $28.50, for example—and the site has facilitated tens of thousands of transactions so far. In February, Bonanzle says it turned its first profit, although it won't reveal how much.
By comparison, eBay posted its first-ever quarterly sales decline in January, when CEO John Donahoe admitted that he was "frustrated" with the performance of the business despite making several major changes to the site. Its fourth-quarter earnings report cited a 4% gain in active users over the previous year, to 86.3 million. But reader comments to a Jan. 22 BusinessWeek article, "eBay Sales: Going, Going…" told a different story. More than 200 current and former eBay sellers stated that they were abandoning the site because of the changes Donahoe has made.
Company Approaching Milestones After a Year
Bonanzle has been around for a year now (out of beta). We've been watching it grow for the better part of this year at least.
According to the site Power Sellers Unite, Bonanzle is a little over 100,000 listings away from becoming the top alternative to eBay. Right now, it is only behind eBid, and of course eBay itself.
eBay appears to even be recognizing Bonanzle as legitimate competition. A new survey from the company asked participants which other websites they use to sell items, and it listed Amazon Marketplace, Overstock, Craigslist, personal website/online store, and Bonanzle
Bonanzle is currently developing an API that will allow third party developers to develop tools to enhance users' Bonanzle experience. This is expected to launch by the end of September. Bonanzle also recently launched an affiliate program called the "Syndicated Seller" program.
Bonanzle previously told WebProNews that it doesn't really focus on competing with eBay. They said this competition was something that was probably paid more attention to by users than themselves.
And now Ebay isn't sitting in such a secure spot right now, their cages have been rattled and they now understand that they are not jntouchable,not as safe and secure as they thought they were. if if that news doesn't just rock your socks then listen to this, there is another newbe hitting the market right now and the rumor hs it that they are the up and commer. With all the traditional Auction workings they have added a new twist. Members get to share in the revenue. ( not in any way a pyramid scheme). When you become a member seller you pay only a commission.No listing fees ext.( at least not right now ). Everytime you make a referral and the referral becomes a seller( lists items for sale ) you share in the revenue from any sales that come from your referral and his referrals ect. so depending on how many referrals you make and how many sales they and their referrals make, you could end up with a nice little stream of revenue comming in every month. And thats without you even listing anything and making any sales of your own. the site offers classifieds,forums,chat and more new age stuff comming in the future.
So, now we have ubud.com,ebid.com,bidz.comliqudators.com and profitsharingauctions.com. SO ebay watch your step and maybe start going back to basic and treating your customers like you did in the beginning. Like they were real people and important. maybe if you stop the it's my way or the highway attitude you'll get back some of the lost customers and keep some of the existing ones. ( people are feeing from ebay at remarkable numbers.
